Best approach to unspoiled nodes?

[Maku]

HQ items are the only way to go. The market for NQs is over saturated and there is hardly any demand for NQ. What I do (I do not have melded gear yet just HQ Artifact stuffs) is Toil then Leaf 1 and FieldM2. I usually get one HQ swing normally and then I always get my for sure HQ swing on the last hit with Brunt Force.

[Castillan]

My approach is this:

You know which slot it's at (the thing that you want), so no need to use Toil. 1 pick will clear it.

Leaf Turn II
Collect twice
Ageless Words
Collect 3 more times
Activate Brunt Force for last collect (assuming all 5 collects were successful)

I'm actually 50 miner/49 bot atm, but that's what I do with miner, I just replaced the abilities with the equivalent Botany ones.

Generally I'll get at least 2 x HQ gathers per node. If I'm lucky, 4.

If you've got >=630GP (using food and more melds) use Field Mastery I at the start as well for a 95% gather chance, and activate Ageless Words after the 4th pick when your GP comes back up to 300.

[Maku]

My approach is this:

You know which slot it's at (the thing that you want), so no need to use Toil. 1 pick will clear it.

Leaf Turn II
Collect twice
Ageless Words
Collect 3 more times
Activate Brunt Force for last collect (assuming all 5 collects were successful)

I'm actually 50 miner/49 bot atm, but that's what I do with miner, I just replaced the abilities with the equivalent Botany ones.

Generally I'll get at least 2 x HQ gathers per node. If I'm lucky, 4.

If you've got >=630GP (using food and more melds) use Field Mastery I at the start as well for a 95% gather chance, and activate Ageless Words after the 4th pick when your GP comes back up to 300.

Ageless Words and Toil have the exact same GP cost so why not just use Toil? You also are not getting 100% success and the RNG in this game is stupid. I would rather have the sure thing and get generally (same as you) 2 HQ swings a node.

[Maku]

Snip

Math was never my strong suit but that makes sense. My point is that you could miss a swing and not get the for sure HQ at the end at all and potentially no HQ at a node at all. So i guess it is just if you are a bit of a gambler or not and it can make more HQ or nothing, while my way is the safe way to get a for sure HQ swing in.

[Castillan]

Math was never my strong suit but that makes sense. My point is that you could miss a swing and not get the for sure HQ at the end at all and potentially no HQ at a node at all. So i guess it is just if you are a bit of a gambler or not and it can make more HQ or nothing, while my way is the safe way to get a for sure HQ swing in.

I know what you mean. You want a guarantee. Sometimes a guarantee isn't the most efficient way, long term. If you absolutely HAD TO have an HQ gather NOW, then do it your way. If this is a long term deal, then it's more beneficial to take the gamble.

[Castillan]

HQ items are the only way to go. The market for NQs is over saturated and there is hardly any demand for NQ. What I do (I do not have melded gear yet just HQ Artifact stuffs) is Toil then Leaf 1 and FieldM2. I usually get one HQ swing normally and then I always get my for sure HQ swing on the last hit with Brunt Force.

Let's assume a base 2% HQ chance.

Your way gives 5 gathers at 12% HQ chance at 100% success, plus 1 gather at 100%, or on average => 1.60 HQ gathers per node

My way gives 5 gathers at 32% HQ chance at 90% success, plus a 0.9^5 = ~59% chance at a 100% HQ gather chance at 100% success, for 5*0.32*0.9 + 0.59 => 2.03 HQ gathers per node.

If you want more HQ's per gather, on average, then do it my way. Statistically it works out better in the long term.

[StouterTaru]

My way gives 5 gathers at 32% HQ chance at 90% success, plus a 0.9^5 = ~59% chance at a 100% HQ gather chance at 100% success, for 5*0.32*0.9 + 0.59 => 2.03 HQ gathers per node.

You skipped the chance at HQ if you don't hit all of your first 5 swings, it boosts it to about 2.14 HQ swings per node.

In the end, your way gets under 10 NQ and 6.5 HQ per node, if the RNG gods do as they say they will.

I get 25 NQ per node. I'll take my 15 extra NQ over your 6.5 HQ, but I'm one of those crafters that only needs NQ items.